For Blue Skies
by Emerith
Summary: Story #4 in Hector's series. Miami and what comes after. If you haven't read the rest of the series, I suggest doing so before this one.
1. Chapter 1

Title: _For Blue Skies_

_Chapter: _1

_Category:_ Angst / Adventure / Romance

_Pairing:_ Hector / Steph / Lester

_Rating:_ R… I guess.. Some innuendo, and some language.. Geez, I don't think there's even any violence this time.

_Summary: _ Miami.. Finally. Throw out any preconceptions you had about what would come in Miami, cuz I don't think this is it.

Previously on:… Go read the first 3 stories in the series if you don't know what's going on.

_Disclaimer:_ The characters your recognize, do not belong to me, they belong to Janet Evanovich, I've just got them out on loan. I promise Steph will be back in one piece.. But I make no promises about Lester and Hector… Everybody else, is mine. Especially Rufio twinkle

_Warning!!_ There are two naked guys in this story who want to do dirty things to eachother, if you're too narrow minded to accept that, close the window, I will not be held responsible for your squeamishness.

_Author's Note: _ Took me long enough, I know. Blame the Muse. She took Hector and ran off on a nice little Winter vacation. It was extremely lonely here without them, so I suffered right along with you.

Music for this section:

Strays Don't Sleep - For Blue Skies

**For Blue Skies**

Chapter 1

"Come on man, you can't NOT tell me about Miami now." Lester could whine with the best of them.

Guess that'll teach me to leave off storytelling for a breath before Lester gets what he wants.

"Would you prefer I ran out of breath and passed out from going non-stop?"

Stephanie lay on the bed between us, smiling back and forth at us as she followed our banter.

"Hehe, no worries Hector, I promise if you pass out, I'll take good care of your unconscious body."

And out comes that damnable smirk.

"Just try to ignore any extra aches and pains you might find when you wake up."

"Amante, you are troublesome. If you expect me to get on with the story you need to zip those pretty lips." And pretty they certainly were.

The longer I sat here talking, explaining my past to these two remarkable people, the more I wished that I could just shut up and enjoy them instead.

I couldn't let myself do that though, not until I'd explained everything. Not until they'd heard every last terrible deed. Only then could I move on with them with a clear conscience. Only then would I truly be starting over, the way I'd hoped to years ago when Ranger first found me. I can only hope that when it's all said and done, they still want to touch me.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," Lester's voice was just as playful as it had been a minute ago, but his eyes weren't quite the same. His usual confidence had fled, taking the light that made his gem colored eyes gleam. He wasn't positive that he was right.

"Si. I do. You make it hard not to most of the time." A sincere smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

I didn't realize that eventually letting someone back into my heart would be the final step to healing myself of the hurt I'd experienced, but there it was.

There was a new man inside me, clamoring to get out and move on with his life. To have Stephanie and Lester be a part of that life. But first I had to shed the skin of the old me. Throw off the terrors of my past. The only way to do that was to share it with these two people. For them to understand who I had been.. Who I wanted to be.

"So you want to hear about Miami do you? It's probably going to be disappointingly boring."

OoOoOoOoO

_Miami was everything I'd expected it to be. _

_Sunny and hot._

_I'd tried not to set my expectations too high._

_When my plane landed I was met at the gate by Macario himself. The resemblance to Ranger made him easy to pick out in a crowd. A softer version, somewhat smaller, closer to his mother in height. Ella's stern mouth, but the eyes.. they were those soft, dark brown eyes Ranger had let slip for just a moment. I'd even bet if he let his short spiky brown hair grow out, it would look exactly like Ranger's. I'll bet they were hell on their mothers growing up._

_Apparently he was worried that his 'overly chatty cousin' might have forgotten to mention the details of what I would be doing. Turned out Macario had a sense of humor._

_So he decided to give me a crash course on the drive, before he dropped me in the lions den._

_Macario himself and Silvio were the only one's who had been apprised of my situation in Trenton. Silvio because he would be responsible for the bulk of my training. Everyone else in the Miami office was blissfully oblivious of my former status. _

_I would be given a real chance to start fresh._

OoOoOoOoO

"See, even that is more then Ranger ever told me about himself."

Stephanie should probably have gotten points for holding out as long as she had without interrupting me. I just wish she'd choose something other then Ranger to interrupt about.

"Why do you say that chica?" Best to humor her and just get it out of the way now.

"Because I didn't know he had a twin cousin! What is he? Patty Freaking Duke!?" Ok. Irritated does not even begin to cover this.

"I didn't even know Ella was his Aunt." Her voice had suddenly softened, remorse coloring her words. "I'm just so sorry that he didn't feel he could let me in _that _much. It seems like such a simple thing to me, but I realize he must not look at it that way." She seemed so sad.

I reached out to her, pulling her down against the mattress so she landed squarely on my chest. Her big blue eyes blinking down at me in surprise. Long curly brown lashes batting against her cheeks.

"Chica bonita, don't look so sad. You make my heart hurt. None of this takes away from what you two mean to eachother. The friendship that you have is a beautiful thing. Don't let that be belittled." I tried my best to soothe her. Stroking my hand down her mass of curls, losing myself in her.

She was learning a lot, and leaving a lot behind.

She settled her head on my chest, laying a kiss over my heart. I swear I felt it nearly thud to a stop when her lips traced over my skin.

She must have felt it too. I felt her cheeks harden and round as she smiled, no doubt bringing out those beautiful dimples and making her eyes shine.

Lester settled in beside us, his hand gently tracing up and down our sides where Stephanie lay atop me.

"Go ahead Hector, I'm sorry I interrupted you." Her lips brushed against me with each word.

"If you're sure Stephanie."

I wasn't the only one moving on from things.

OoOoOoOoO

_Macario explained to me that Miami didn't do much skip tracing, the office handled more private and corporate security instead. Apparently there was big money in securing the ritzy homes that dotted along the coast. _

_I wouldn't have to worry about any of that though. As it turned out, I left the building less than a dozen times in the entire six months I spent in Miami. _

_I asked to stop on our way to the office that first day, and loaded up on everything I would need to get by. A few new outfits to start off my new life, the necessary toiletries. Almost a dozen of the long black thermal shirts that would become part of my normal uniform beneath my RangeMan shirts. _

_Even in Miami's heat, it was the best way I could think of to hide the tattoos that would set me apart from everyone else. I even went so far as to spend twenty minutes in the women's aisle of a pharmacy. Comparing and matching those little bottles of liquid makeup until I found just the right shade to mask the teardrop on my cheek. _

_My time in Miami was truly eye opening in some respects. _

_I covered the teardrop before we made it to the building. Only one person ever saw me as anything other then a normal guy. And none of them ever treated me like anything different than themselves. _

OoOoOoOoO

_My time with LK wasn't entirely wasted, out of all of the possessions they stole, I made good use of anything educational that came my way. Textbooks and novels from the backpacks of college students who shouldn't have been walking alone at night. Business plans from the briefcases of suits who had angered The Crowns. Even Computer manuals from an IT truck that stayed parked in the wrong place for too long. _

_With what little money I could sneak from the gang's collections each week, I would frequent the computer and book stores in Newark, expanding my education to include the art that had always interested me and the poets my sister used to talk about when I was a child, as well as anything I could find that would help me learn about electronics and technology._

_It all eventually led me to building my own computers and teaching myself the ins and outs of the electronics on my own time, with my own two hands. _

_Silvio had been impressed with the skills I had coming in, but took his time introducing me to the specific software programs that Rangeman had access to. Things I had never even thought to dream of, these men could do at the touch of a few buttons, simply because of their connections to our government. _

_Some of the gadgets amazed me as well. After my sessions with Silvio I would spend hours breaking down old pieces of hardware and trying to figure out how to integrate one piece of technology into another to make them work in tandem. I wasn't so good with it at the beginning, but over time I started learning which things would and wouldn't compromise with eachother to become useful. By the time I left Miami, Silvio had two new pieces of equipment that did not exist elsewhere, to give his men an edge over the competition, and the bad the guys._

_A third person at Rangeman Miami eventually figured out part of who I was. Rangeman Dave was what they called him. _

_I had been working with Silvio for three weeks. Most of what he'd had to teach me I had already taught myself. _

_Dave was Silvio's right hand man in Miami. I never learned exactly what his specialty was, but he was a hard worker, and a good man. _

_He towered over me at just over six and a half feet, dark straight hair pulled tight into a ponytail at the base of his neck, so brown it was almost black. His skin was that dark flesh tone that you knew would tan well if it ever got it's time in the sun. _

_Dave seemed to be the one exception to a few of the RangeMan norms. Rather then the usual RangeMan uniform, Dave showed up every morning wearing work boots, a pair of faded black jeans, a thick, white cotton button down, folded up above his elbows, covered in a black leather vest with the RangeMan logo branded into the leather of the left breast. _

_A well worn brown suede cowboy hat topped his head each morning, but found it's way to his desk before lunch everyday, the sides lovingly rubbed over and over again until the hat held the perfect shape, sloping down to hide a set of big, expressive, bright brown eyes. _

_Dave also didn't carry a gun, he lived and worked in the building, leaving even less frequently then I did. Silvio said it was because Dave was RangeMan Miami's secret weapon, and the less people connected him to the company, the easier it was for him to do his job without distractions._

_We were in the basement of the building one day, swapping out the old coaxial wiring with new fiber optics. I had gotten comfortable around Dave, working with him every day, and I guess I wasn't as aware of my actions as I could have been. _

_It was hot down there with the main ventilation of the building being above ground, and the sweat was rolling off of me. Without thinking about it, I raised my arm to my face, wiping the sweat away with the sleeve of my shirt._

_Dave was much more aware of his surroundings then I was. He stared up at me from his crouched position next to one of the generators in the basement, the room around us lit up bright as day with our work lights. After a minute of careful consideration, his deep bass voice cut through the hum of equipment._

"_Was it necessary?" I had learned that Dave wasn't one to beat around the bush, but at the time, I wasn't entirely certain what he was referring to. I stared back at him, blank faced, a question in my eyes. _

"_The teardrop.. Was it necessary, what you had to do to get that?" I was astounded. I hadn't been aware enough of myself to realize that in wiping away the sweat from my face, I had also wiped away the makeup that was covering my most obvious gang connection._

_I turned, studying my reflection in the metal face of an electrical box that hung on the wall. Streaks of sweat had trickled down under my eye, leaving trails through the makeup that had covered the teardrop, the ink just barely peeking through around the edges. A smudged line running across my upper cheek where my shirt sleeve had rubbed both sweat and makeup away. It was still barely visible. _

_I really thought about what he was asking me. Had it been necessary? _

"_Maybe not necessary, but at the time, it seemed unavoidable. A life for a life, and it allowed me to keep mine." I rubbed at my cheek, trying to spread the remaining makeup around with my fingers to cover the bare edges of the tattoo. "But how did you notice it, there was barely any makeup missing?"_

_I couldn't help but wonder if Dave's noticing was going to lead to my life in Miami becoming more difficult for the rest of my stay. He was quick to alleviate my fears though. As I watched him crouched there on the floor, he raised a hand to his face, wiping away a line of sweat that ran from beside his eye down to his mouth. Slowly, as his hand slid, crème the color of flesh slid with it, uncovering a harsh red line beneath the makeup. I stared, unsure of what I was seeing._

"_But… what….?" I was confused, my brain couldn't make sense of what my eyes were seeing. _

_Dave chuckled a little under his breath before answering me. "It's a birthmark Hector. You get a nice little one on your ass and I get this." _

_How the hell did he know about my ass!? _

_He motioned with his hand, up and down the side of his face, around his chin and down his neck. I could only imagine the bright red splash beside his eye continued down along the rest of his face. _

"_Hey, how the hell did you know I had a…?" I didn't even get to finish before Dave's booming bass laugh bounced back and forth around the walls of the basement._

"_I didn't, it was just a joke." He choked on the words as they tumbled from his mouth, stumbling one over the other with his laughter. _

_Dave and I stuck together after that, still talk on occasion too. He was mostly a loner by the Miami offices standards. Only spending time with the other men once a week for a card game. A social gathering I was eventually invited in on as well. _

_Together we learned the joy of waterproof concealer. He let me in on one of Miami's best kept secrets, the best Mexican takeout this side of the border. _

_I learned that he was born up north, though how far north, or where exactly, he would never say. He had said that somewhere in his family's past was a lineage of Cherokee Indians, but their linking to his family was shrouded in mystery. That mystery was what led to his choice of professions.. Although I'm not entirely sure how._

_Dave acted as a link to a group of people I would have felt like an outsider in otherwise. I didn't socialize with the rest of them much more then he did, but I was accepted by them. People would walk by me in the halls, and instead of averting their eyes, they would say hello and pat me on the back. When the floor ordered out for lunch, they would order extra for me, even if I wasn't there to ask. I was shown photos of children by proud Papa's as we bonded over illegal Cuban cigars and 5-card stud. _

_My time in Miami exposed me to a camaraderie that I had never known in my life, barely known since. To say I was grateful for the experience that Ranger had given me, would be such an understatement it's nearly disgraceful._

OoOoOoOoO

"You really weren't kidding about it being boring were you?" Lester had gone way too long without joking about something. I felt a little edge of surprise that his defense mechanism had held off this long. Almost as surprised that he hadn't used the birthmark as the focus of his distraction.

Lester's joker tended to come out when he was uncomfortable, or just plain didn't know how to handle a situation. Or maybe, when he just didn't want anyone to know what was inside him. His own form of blank face.

We both knew that the next part of the story wasn't going to be fun, to tell, or to listen to.

Lester's voice had dropped the taste of laughter before he continued, seriousness setting in. A voice Lester reserved for moments of honesty. This was what I'd always thought the man behind the masks sounded like. Quiet, unassertive, as if he was certain only of himself and everything else must be questioned.

"I never knew you had gone that far to play normal while you were down there."

"No. Not 'play' as you say, Lester." I wasn't entirely certain that I had the words to explain the feelings behind what I did in Miami. "First you must understand that in my entire adult life, up to that point, no one had ever treated me like a human being. I was always either a commodity or a criminal."

"But, Rufio.." Lester tried to interrupt, to prove me wrong for some reason, but I wanted him to understand things the way I saw them, the way I felt them.

"Yes Lester, Rufio treated me differently, but Rufio was a part of me. We had spent so many years, sharing so much of ourselves with each other, it was almost as if we'd become one. But an ocean without earth to wrap itself around is simply rain. Lost." I closed my eyes against the reality of the room around me. Grounding myself to the present not with sight, but with the feel of Stephanie's curls under my hand as I stroked her hair where it lay draped across my chest. The feel of Lester's hand as his fingers absently brushed my thigh.

"When I left for Miami, I was lost. I thought if I could just find humanity again, if I could find someone who could spot that humanity in me, then maybe I could find myself again. Maybe there really could be more to me then the street thug the world had tried to make me. If a little bit of paint over my tattoos could save me, could deliver me into the world that Ranger had so easily offered me, I was not going to lose the opportunity."

Silence filled the room, so complete was the lack of voices that the stirring noises in the rest of the apartment suddenly became more apparent. The hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen alcove, the tick of the clock atop the entertainment center. Even the brushing of my hand over Steph's hair, and the rub of Lester's thumb across the hair of my leg suddenly had a sound, a pressure that weighed against the inside of my skull.

"In some twisted way it worked too. And in some twisted way it made everything that happened when I came back to Trenton so much harder, and so much easier all at the same time."

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter: _ 2

_Rating:_ I'm gonna say PG13.. Cuz I don't even think there's a curse word in sight here.

_Summary: _Miami made it's mark, but it moved fast through Hector's life, leaving him to head home with some mixed feelings, and a mountain of shit waiting for him.

_Disclaimer:_ If you recognize them, they're not mine.

_Warning!!_ I repeat, if you're uncomfortable with bi-sexual relationships, find something else to read.

_Author's Note: _ Don't throw anything at me over the shortness of this chapter. I'm once again blaming Hector.. Hehehe, it's all his fault.. Always his fault. I'm leaving in the musical selections for each chapter, even though I know the links won't load, this way anyone who's interested can simply pop open Youtube and search for the music. I always suggest listening while you read, my writing is always heavily influenced by the music I include.

Music for this section:

Motley Crue W/Chester Bennington - Home Sweet Home

**For Blue Skies**

**Chapter 2  
**

_I returned to Trenton with equal parts dread and anticipation. I left the makeup behind, wrapping my newly found sense of self worth around me to protect me from what was ahead. Everyone in Trenton already knew who and what I was, there was no sense in trying to hide that from them._

_I studiously ignored the sideways glances and the safety zone that people seemed to keep around me, even in the compact space of the airplane, shuffling to stay as far away from me as the confinement would allow. But here I expected this. The public world had never looked beyond the cover, and I had grown not to expect them to. This wasn't a disappointment, it was just the way the world worked. _

_I was silly enough to hold out hope that things would be different at RangeMan Trenton. Miami had confused my expectations._

_On the other side of the security gate I ran up against Lester's smiling face. But it was one of those smiles that never made it all the way to his eyes. He held his hand out to me and I took it, allowing myself to be pulled into a mirror of the manly hug I'd been embraced in the day he left me here at the airport. _

"_It's good to have you back hermano." His words growled past my ear, and I viciously pushed back the emotion's that nearly drowned over me at that one tiny breath. _

_That was it. The only words spoken between us from the moment our eyes met in the airport, until we were nearing Trenton on the highway some time later. _

"_I hope things in Miami went well for you." His voice was flat, emotionless. What was left unsaid was that things weren't going to go well here in Trenton. _

_The garage was noticeably void of people as we pulled in and made our way across the cement to the elevator. Likewise, we didn't run into a single soul as Lester led me up in the elevator and down the fourth floor hall to the door of the apartment I had inhabited before Miami._

_Lester stopped in front of the door, his larger frame blocking my view entirely. His eyes traveled from my feet to the tips of my spiked hair, and back down again. Measuring me. For what I wasn't sure at the moment, but I knew it had to be something serious, just from the hard glint at the edge of his eyes, the way the skin at the corners tightened and creased as he concentrated on what he was seeing. Not my clothes, not my tattoos, but something much deeper inside than that. _

"_I'm glad, you seem to have come back a stronger person Hector. That may just give you what you need to make it through this. This is where things start getting rough." And without another word or glance, he twisted the doorknob and stepped back, pushing the door open behind him but keeping his eyes on my face as he stepped back into the room. _

_And there it was. All of it. Every earthly possession I had ever owned. _

_My electronics packed tightly into plastic totes, stacked against the far wall next to a dark wood entertainment center I'd never seen before. A large tote full to overflowing with books sat beneath a small, dark, two seater dinette table that matched the entertainment center, sitting by itself in the empty floor space between the kitchen alcove and the living section of the apartment. _

_I stepped further into the room, glancing around the corner wall to the space the bed had occupied. There, large as life, placed gently over the bed, was the dark blue velvet blanket, and the single large body pillow that Rufio and I had shared for countless nights. _

_I stumbled, nearly collapsing to my knees as I weaved across the floor of the apartment. Praying Ella hadn't gotten ambitious and laundered the blanket or pillow case. _

_Praying that just this last time I could fill my head with the sweet smell of Rufio on our pillow. Close my eyes and pretend for just one second that none of it was real, he was still here beside me and we would continue on together as always. One last time I wanted to let myself picture his face, settled there on the pillow beside me, that unguarded smile he always had just as sleep started taking over, black lashes fluttering on his cheeks and "I love you Hector" slipping past his lips, just barely more then a breath of air. _

_I fell to a heap on the bed, tugging slowly back on the covers to bury myself beneath them. The breath went out of me when the blanket pulled back to reveal Rufio's teddy bear, Curly, tucked safely down against the pillow. The only thing he'd worried to take with him when we ran from that foster home, what seemed like lifetimes ago. _

_A quiet sob worked it's way loose from my throat, swallowed abruptly by the pillow as I fell headlong into the bed. All of the sorrow, all of the pain that I had tucked away safely in a locked box in the corner of my mind, so that I could make it through this and still stay sane, suddenly broke loose. _

_As Rufio's scent surrounded me, I was dragged down by wave after wave of memories. Some were beautiful moments, bathed in happiness and Rufio's precious smile. Other's were vile, harsh reminders of just how much of ourselves we'd had to give away in order to survive. _

_I was left lying in a heap, crying out my grief one more time, surrounded by the comforting scent of the man I loved, with the very teddy bear he'd cherished since childhood tucked lovingly between my arms. _

_I have no idea how much later it was when I finally came back to myself. To the feel of Lester's hand rubbing soothingly up and down my bare arm, the only part of me that had worked it's way loose from the blanket._

_I pulled that rich blue velvet safety net down from my face and took in Lester where he sat perched on the edge of the bed, very carefully not touching even the edge of my blanket. Silly, but I appreciated the gesture. A part deep inside of me thanked Lester for showing Rufio and his memory that respect. _

_Lester's voice was quiet, modulated, and yet it seemed so harsh breaking through the silence of the apartment. Perhaps it was the levity of his words._

"_It's over, they're gone now. Not just running things from jail, but gone, none of them will ever get the chance to atone for what they did to you, and to Rufio. I made damn sure of that."_

_He paused for a moment, bringing his eyes up from the blanket he'd been staring so intently at, to meet my eyes. What I saw there caused a thread of fear to shoot through my belly, I knew whatever came next, it wasn't going to be easy. _

"_But not until after I made them tell me what they did, and why. I know it all Hector. I know what they did to Rufio. The question is, are you sure _you _want to know?"_

**End Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter: _ 3_

_Category:_ Angst / Adventure / Romance

_Pairing:_ Hector / Steph / Lester

_Rating:_ R - see Warning

_Summary: _ The visit to Miami changed a lot of things about the way Hector viewed the world. But now it's time to face the past back in Trenton.

_Disclaimer:_ If you recognize them.. I don't own them, JE does.

_Warning!!_ Some heavy shit in here. Might wanna bring on the tissues, cuz it's not all hearts and flowers.

_Author's Note: _This was a particularly difficult chapter to write, and once again, although it's short, don't let that fool you about how much weight it really carries. Words are hefty things, even in small numbers. This chapter's for Rufio, may he rest with more peace then he ever saw in life.

Music for this section:

Linkin Park - Forgotten

**For Blue Skies**

**Part 3**

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to Hector."

I opened my eyes to glance across the bed at Lester. He was curled on his side, one arm tucked under the pillow, his other hand nestled between the pillow and the curve of his cheek. He looked so much younger, so much more fragile than I knew he was. The golden tan of his skin seemed to glow from within, placed against the stark white cotton of the pillow case. My hand slid across the bed, settling against the warm curve of his cheek. His eyes closed, his head leaning into my hand as a warm breath sighed from his lips.

"It's ok Lester, you don't have to protect me from this anymore. I have to come to terms with my past if I want to be able to move forward with you two in my life. And I very much want that."

The smile I could feel tugging at the edges of my mouth seemed to pull and pulse through every nerve in my body.

Admitting that out loud had felt wonderful. Almost as wonderful as simply wanting them made me feel.

"But thank you Lester. Thank you for protecting me, for caring enough about me to want me to be happy and safe. You, and the things you do for me, mean the world to me. I hope you know that."

Dios, once I started it just wouldn't stop coming.

"But you didn't just protect me Lester. You weren't just my safety net." I slid my hand down his jaw, settling my fingers under his chin and tugging gently so he would open his eyes while I told him this. I wanted to stare into those bottomless pits, see what they had to offer me while I made him understand how important he was to me.

"You taught me how to love again Lester. You taught me how to give myself completely, without losing, without compromising myself. You showed me that there were still greater things out there worth fighting for, worth living for. When I was lost Lester, you were my North Star."

I leaned slowly across the bed, moving only the parts that Stephanie wasn't lying on as she stared intently up at our exchange.

My eyes never left Lester's as I moved closer and closer to him, keeping their shine in my sights as my lips brushed back and forth across his, slowly, gently.

It had taken me a long time to admit it, but a passion had burned between us since the moment we'd met. A fire that, although it always burned hot enough to scald, wasn't always rampant and violent. But often graceful, mesmerizing.

OoOoOoOoO

_I sat, squeezed into the corner of the bed, my back pressed to the wall. The blanket was still pulled up around my chest, I hadn't even bothered to take my boots off before I crawled under. Rufio's bear was still clutched tightly between my arms and the blanket as I braced myself for what Lester had found. _

_Lester had pulled a chair from the new dining room set, dragging it across the floor of the apartment to settle next to the bed. He sat there with his legs spread wide, feet planted on the floor. His elbows settled on his knees and all that hair slid forward as his gaze settled on the floor. He spoke in a low, even voice, not meeting my eyes as his story poured over me._

"_We sat on that house for a week, putting together a list of every frequent visitor. Waiting patiently until we were sure we could take the house and still get as many of the higher ranks as possible."_

"_We went in around 3am. Only two people in the house were awake and they were both in the front room, easily contained. We swept the place from top to bottom and got all three of the Crown's you had given us names for. As well as nearly a dozen lower members. Tank and I rounded up the lesser members and took turns running them into the station with Bobby. Meanwhile Ranger had been observing the Crown's, and had decided Cruz, the 4__th__ Crown, was the weakest link. The best bet to get the information I was after."_

"_Once the lesser soldiers were delivered to the task force, Ranger brought the Crown's back here, to the basement, the holding cells. I stayed behind with Tank to clear your room, bring your things and the laptops back here."_

_He stopped, shaking his head from side to side, eyes still fixed on the floor. His hair swayed side to side with his head, catching the light and dancing it back at my eyes in varying shades of blonde, gold, and a rich, sun lightened brown. I let myself enjoy the warmth that simple flash of color had given me, I had a feeling that with this much lead up, I really wasn't going to feel very warm after he finally got to the point. For a moment, his head rose, eyes catching me staring, holding the gaze as he first started to speak._

"_He waited for me to get back here before he started questioning them."_

_A sigh, so loud, but the tension in his shoulders didn't ease the slightest as his head lowered again, his voice once again muted by the curtain of hair. _

"_I can't figure out a way to tell you this that isn't going to flat out suck, so I'm sorry Hector, but I'm not going to try, I'm just going to tell you what they told me."_

_Lester's honesty was something I learned to count on after that night. _

"_The second night you were in Juvie, Felipe Ruiz broke your agreement. He went after Rufio. Rufio.. was too small to fight back. Cruz said Lope tried to reason with him. The great La Araña actually pled for the innocence of a little boy. But Ruiz was determined… he broke Rufio.. in front of them all."_

_Oh God, Angels protect me. He'd only barely started and already I could barely breath for the tightness in my chest, barely see him sitting there a few feet away for the tears clouding my eyes. My Rufio.. This was what they'd done to my Lost Boy. No wonder he'd been so different.. Two years alone with them.. I left him alone._

"_While you were locked up, and facing your own problems, Ruiz built him back up as a puppet. A tool for himself and the first Crown. He used Rufio to spy on other members of the gang, and anyone else who happened to catch his interest. Cruz said he had even tried to use him to seduce a businessman into a situation for blackmail, but Rufio stood his ground. He took a hell of a beating for it, but Cruz said he never caved, never let anyone else touch him except Ruiz, by force, until you came home."_

_I couldn't speak. Even if I'd been able to think of something to say, my tongue was twice the size of my mouth and the lump in my throat should have choked me. I would never be able to forgive myself for the things Rufio had to endure._

"_This is the part where it gets hazy though. Once you were back Ruiz had to be much more discrete about his operation. Apparently the threats to his own person hadn't been enough to swear Rufio to silence, he had to be told that __**your**__ throat would be slit while you slept if he opened his mouth."_

_No. No! If he'd just told me then. I would have slaughtered them all. Every last damn one of them. I would have sacrificed them all for what they did to him, to keep him safe. _

_Why did you have to be so damn brave Rufio? Why take it all, why not let me help you? _

"_Felipe had been waiting for years to find a way to get rid of you, and we finally gave him a way to do it. When Ranger picked you up in that bar, the other Crowns recognized him. Lope, somehow, knew who he was. I can only guess it was from the old neighborhood. But they went back and told Ruiz."_

"_Ruiz made Rufio a personal offer. Take you down before you could give up their secrets, and he would inherit your Crown. Refuse, or fail, and be dropped from LK."_

_No. Oh God No. _

"_But… Cruz and Lope were in the car with him that morning. Cruz said he leaned out the back window, but froze, wouldn't talk, wouldn't shoot, wouldn't do anything. So Lope fired, and Cruz pulled Rufio back into the car. He said they called Ruiz as soon as they were clear of the Police station and told him what had happened. He ordered them to drop Rufio, so they did as they were told like good little soldiers."_

_I could nearly taste the disdain dripping from Lester's voice as he finished speaking. Dripping like all those tears that had fallen and collected on my own hands where they clutched Rufio's bear. _

"_Ranger handled Lope, and Tank worked over Ruiz until he handed over the first Crown. He was taken in his own home the next day. A three million dollar mansion on the outskirts of Atlantic City. Spineless bastard didn't even live in his own territory, he was so afraid of being made."_

"_I can't tell you what happened to Ruiz, Ranger won't tell anyone. But the other three Crowns were handed over to the governments Gang Taskforce. Thanks to the laptop you kept, they'll never see daylight, or a friendly human face again. They've put together a special place for people that can't be allowed to play in reality. None of them will ever again have the chance to ruin a life other then their own."_

**The end… **of this chapter….

--Thanks for all the awesome reviews guys!--


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter: _ 4

_Category:_ Angst / Romance

_Pairing:_ Hector / Steph / Lester

_Rating:_ Let's say NC17 just to be safe..

_Summary: _

_Disclaimer:_ sigh I still don't own them, gonna give them back to JE when I'm done..

_Warning!!_ I repeat, there are two naked guys in here, and they're dirty, dirty boys… err.. Ummm.. Yeah… hehe

_Author's Note: _It's so short! I know, please don't hate me. Last chapter in Blue Skies, next section of the saga to be written soon. I promise! Until then, Hector sends his love, and asks that everyone keep reading and reviewing, he's running out of things to read me in the tub.

Music for this section:

Rob Thomas - Lonely No More(Stripped version on You tube)

**For Blue Skies**

**Part 4**

I didn't realize the tears had become real again until I felt two very different hands gently brushing them from my cheeks.

At some point, while I'd been lost in the haze of my memories, Stephanie had slid down off my chest, laying herself along the bed beside me.

I was flanked.

The sadness and regret that had washed over me receded on the tide of heat. I peered up into two sets of eyes. Lester rode my left side, Stephanie my right. Each propped on an elbow, two bare legs thrown over my own, their free hands extended to my face. Both wore matching expressions. Softness, acceptance, love.

If I'd doubted it in the slightest, I knew in that moment, that this was all going to be worth it somehow. Dredging up all this pain, sharing it with them, would make the load lighter. And in return for helping me bear my past, I would gladly take their hurts upon myself. Gladly take away the things that make them cry at night, replace it with the warmth their touch lights in me.

"There's nothing I can say that will make it any better." Stephanie was the first to break the silence that had rung around us when I finished talking. "But I know that somewhere, deep down, you know that you weren't responsible for what happened to him Hector."

I wanted to argue with her, I wanted to tell her that it was my job to keep Rufio safe… but she was right. I knew it now, I knew the deck had been stacked against me from the very start. There had never been a way for me to fix what had gone wrong, and I hadn't caused it. My conscience was clean, but every now and then, the crack in my heart tried to drag everything else in, and I got confused.

Lester chimed in, his voice still quiet, the mask still missing.

"She's right Hector. You know she's right." He smiled a little, and it was a different smile, one that I hadn't seen on Lester's face before. Such a small curve of lips, a slight lift to his eyes, but the light in his face was so pure, so happy. "We're both here now, and we're not going anywhere Amante. I can promise you that."

I stared into all that happiness, and found my brain at war with my heart, and my body.

"Don't Lester.. Don't make me a promise you're not certain you can keep." My eyes slid closed, fighting not to let the emotion well up so hard it drowned me. "You haven't heard it all yet, there are things I've done even you may not be able to forgive me for, even you may not be able to look past. Thing's that weren't done to keep us alive, but out of sheer stupidity. People's lives were ruined, taken, for nothing better then idiocy. Even I can't forgive myself for some of it."

"He's right again Hector. We may have been only friends up until last night, but.. I've thought of you as more then that for a while now. I've grown to love you for who you are Hector.. And the things that made you who you are, are important, but they don't change the way I feel."

I opened my eyes, turning my head the slightest bit to drown in all that blue. The red tinge her cheeks were taking on was a beautiful outline to her bold black lashes.

"You'll always be the same special person to me. My favorite stakeout snuggle partner. Ah! I spent six months curling up in your lap cuz I thought you were gay! You bastard!" She fake punched me in the shoulder and I couldn't fight the laughter that overrode everything else I'd been feeling and bubbled to the surface.

"Oh, no, now you've done it chica. You've reminded me I've got six months worth of teasing and frustration to make up for."

Quicker then either one of them had expected, I launched myself up from beneath them. They both landed on their backs, staring up at me a bit shocked as I crouched facing them with what was probably an unholy grin on my face.

I couldn't help it, for some reason Steph had just brought out a playfulness that had been sorely locked away for a long time.

I threw myself back towards them while they still looked on stunned. Landing in a straddle across Stephanie's stomach, a leg pinning her arms to either side. I kept the grin as I stared down into those beautiful, startled blue eyes and I lowered my face to her chest, lashing my tongue across her nipple fiercely for a few moments before I leaned up to growl in her ear.

"Careful which beast you play with beauty, you might not like the consequences."

Even in that position, she surprised me. I leaned back again to take in her expression, not a drop of fear ever crossed her eyes, instead it was a flash of excitement, anticipation. She wanted to know what I'd do to her, she wanted to enjoy it.

I didn't waste time thinking after that. I slid my hands lightly down, caressing her sides, over my own legs to run down her thighs behind me. I waited till she lifted and spread her legs, silently inviting me to give her exactly what she wanted. Then my hands latched onto the upper backside of her thighs, holding her legs wide and tickling with everything I had in me, knowing it was one of the spots that almost always worked on me.

She started squirming and wiggling under me almost instantly. Choked pleas for sympathy falling out in between laughter so loud and honest it made my heart swell.

She lay there beneath me, her head pressed beside Lester's on the pillow, grinding our bodies together with her squirming. They both stared up at me with that happiness shining from their faces, and I suddenly didn't know if I could ever ask for more.

Would I ever need more then the love these two brought to my heart to survive in this world? Probably. But as long as they were there beside me, I had a feeling I could conquer whatever might come my way.

I gave in after the fifth 'Uncle' was yelled, right about the time her head started thrashing back and forth and I lost sight of those eyes.

I framed her cheek with one hand, smiling broader at the contrast of my own dark skin against her paleness. I leaned down, brushing the tip of my nose back and forth against her own before kissing her chastely on the lips.

"Te quiero, Stephanie." My throat felt raw as the words slid past, my voice rasping over the accent of my words.

I turned then, framing my other hand along Lester's cheek. There was such a softness in his eyes, the real Lester shining through more today then I'd ever gotten to see him in the past few years.

Something about having Stephanie here with us, about sharing this all with someone, had given him what he needed to let himself out.

I was thankful for whatever it was.

I leaned towards him, bringing him that extra inch closer with my hand on his face. Giving him the same treatment I had given Stephanie, rubbing my nose along his own before softly laying my lips against him.

"Te quiero Lester, Te quiero."

"We love you too Hector." Without even trying, they'd both spoken at the exact same moment. Their voices flowing over me in unison to wrap me in a blanket of love and safety.

I lowered myself to their arms on the bed, burying my face between their necks on the pillow and taking the time to simply enjoying the most miraculous thing that had come into my life in a very long time.

**The end.. **For now


End file.
